Hi there,
as you can see from the title of this post, I'm back here again. I've struggled this year to find the motivation to diet or exercise. We've had lots of distractions going on, many of them centered around my littlest grandson, Nathaniel, who along with his mum and dad, live at my house. He has been very ill and has had a major operation and has been in and out of hospital since he was born in January.

However, I want to start again - I'm back to 197lbs, which is 4.5lbs less than a few weeks ago and 51lbs less than at my heaviest. My aim is still to get to 145lbs, so I've got 52lbs to go. Quite a lot more than I had to lose in October, but significantly less than January last year :)

I have got myself a fitbug, which is a pedometer that can be connected up to my computer and it tells me how many calories I've used, as well as both the aerobic and total steps walked. The Fitbug site also enables me to input the food I've eaten and it works out various things including whether for that day/week/month my calorie input/output has put me in the weight loss, weight maintenance or weight gain category, which I really like.

I have realised that I'm always going to struggle to keep on the straight and narrow, just because of the sort of person I am. However, last year I also learnt lots of ways of overcoming this, so I'm just going to have to keep plugging away and making sure I never give up totally.

Went to Weight Watchers last night and had lost 3lbs Whoop whoop!!

I was really pleased. Although the weight is coming off more slowly this time around, compared to last year, I am happy with my progress. I want to lose another 47lbs and at I think I'm on course to do this by the end of July, which means that I will be able to wear gorgeous summer clothes this year!

Breakfast - 4 points
3 weetabix
1 tsp of sugar
1/2 pint of skimmed milk

Lunch - 0 points
no points butternut squash soup

Dinner - ummh, no idea!
Chicken and chips from the chip shop(Chicken microwaved, not fried and skin removed. Small chips)
Small bar of fruit and nut chocolate

Exercise
Walk to the village - 2 points

Brunch - 6.5 points
2 pieces of toast - 3 points
3 tsps clover - 2 points
mushrooms and tomatoes "fried" in one cal spray - 0 points
1 egg dry fried - 1.5 points

Dinner - 9 points
1 chicken breast, grilled with tandoori spices - 3.5 points
2 discovery wraps - 5.5 points
cucumber, spring onions, spinach and rocket - 0
points

Dessert - 2 points
2 pancakes with cherries - 2 points

Snacks - 4 points
1 apple - 0.5 points
1 Weight Watchers cheese triangle - 1 point
1 orange - 0.5 points
1 finger of fudge - 2 points

Exercise

30 mins jogging on the Wii Fit - 2 points

Total points 21.5 out of 22
2 points earned through exercise
Banked 2.5 points

Note: I've realised that over the past two days I haven't had any milk - that's because when I'm not at work I don't often eat cereal and I rarely, if ever drink tea, as I prefer water. I must make sure that I am eating or drinking more dairy.

Brunch - 7 points
2 small slices of uncut wholegrain bread (weighed and pointed) 2 points
3 level tsps of Clover spread 2 points
Baked beans (weighed and pointed)1.5 points
1 egg (poached in water)1.5 points

Dinner - 8.5 points
3 chicken drumsticks with no skin - 3.5 points
Carrots, swede and onions - 0 points
2 tablespoons of sweetcorn - 0.5 points
1 8oz jacket potato - 2 points
Chicken stock (made with 1/2 knorr stockcube and 2 tsp of corn flour)0.5 points
3 level tsps of Clover spread 2 points

Dessert - 2 points
2 slices of pineapple - 0.5 points
Tinned mandarins in juice - 1 point
1 sugar-free Jelly - 0 points
Acnchor light squirty cream - 0.5 points

Snacks
1 orange - 0.5 points
1 packet of Fruities - 0.5 points
1 WW carrot cake slice - 1 point

Exercise
30 mins of Cardio using The Biggest Loser Wii game - 2 points
30 mins on the treadmill at 5 mph - 2 points
40 min walk to the village and back - 1.5 points

Total points used - 21.5 (out of 22)
Total points earnt - 5
Total saved 5.5

As I'm off from school for a half-term I've decided to log all my food and exercise for the whole week. So each day I'll post everything I've eaten and all exercise completed.

After the brilliant start I had at the beginning of January things went downhill very quickly. My newest grandson, Nathaniel, who was born on Jan 7th was taken seriously ill and for two weeks I was either at the hospital with my daughter for 15 hours a day, or I was leaving for work at 6.30am then going straight to the hospital afterwards and getting home about 10pm - as you can imagine, dieting was the last thing on my mind. Thankfully, Nathaniel pulled through although he has to have medical care at home and so every day nurses from the local hospital are out to help my daughter. He is booked in for surgery next Monday and will be back in hospital for 7 to 10 days but hopefully that will sort the problem out and if it doesn't it should at least help.

On Wednesday 3rd Feb I decided to join Weightwatchers again, but this time, instead of doing it at home I am attending meetings. Partly this is because one of my daughters wanted to go too but also because I hoope it will keep me focused.

I started the diet at 14st 3.5lbs (although obviously this is fully dressed and in the evening compared to my previous weigh ins which were done in the nude forst thing in the morning). I lost 3.5lbs this week, so in the evening I'm 196 lbs

I've had a really good week, both weight wise and personally. As you will have seen below, my new little grandson was born on Thursday and I was my daughter's birthing partner, which was an amazing experience.

Diet wise, I lost 6.6lbs this week. I'm sooo pleased, especially as for the last couple of days I wasn't able to plan what I ate - on the Thursday because I was at the hospital and there were no eating facilities due to the weather conditions (no staff came in) and on the Friday because my school had an INSET day and the canteen was closed. Normally I would have prepared things in advance, but I didn't get home from the hospital until almost 3am and had to get up at 6am!!

Both my daughters want to start following a healthy eating plan from tomorrow, so things should be easier for me around here.

I had the most amazing experience last night. I was my youngest daughter Sarah's Birthing partner when she gave birth to her new son Nathaniel. I can't describe how exciting it was and so what if I was a couple of hundred calories over my limit yesterday - the hospital canteen was closed because of the snow so I ended up eating rubbish. But, I have a beautiful new grandson and I'm looking forward to them both coming home tomorrow. As soon as I get a chance to take the photos off my iphone I'll post one on here for you all to see

I'm back on track! On Friday 1st Jan I weighed in at 14st 2.6lbs, which is significantly lighter than I was at the start of 2009. I'm delighted to have lost and have kept off 50lbs last year.

I made a decision to start again at the start of January because I will be able to directly compare this year with last. Seeing what I did this week last year will be hugely inspiring to me and I know I can lose the 54lbs I still have to lose because I have already done that once and more besides during the past year.

I've had 3 really good days and feel back in control of my own destiny. I'm taking it one day at a time, but feel sure I will be a success.